Monday, February 22, 2010

Another Update ..........

We had a roller-coaster weekend; nothing medical, just emotional. But today was much better. We got the results from the bone marrow biopsy confirming the diagnosis, but the blood work showed improvement. With CML, the white blood cells are either overproducing or not dying off as they should and are crowding out the red blood cells which results in low RBC. Today, the wbc was still out of range for the in-house equipment at the doctor’s office so it had to be sent to LabCorp. We will hear from it tomorrow to know for sure, but are expecting that the WBC is dropping, because the RBC was up.

The doctor is pleased that the only side effect Will has had from the medication was a little nausea this morning. We are thankful to a great and gracious God and are trusting in Him.

I have thought about setting up a Caring Bridge (see www.caringbridge.org) account for Will, but it looks as though the critical stage of this will be behind us soon. If for some reason, we find out the medication is not working and it appears this will be a long, drawn out ordeal, I will do that. So for now, just forward this to anyone you think might be interested and, if they respond to me at the email above, I will add them to the list. I only have one or two email addresses for fellow church members as my lists are at home. I didn’t know I would need them.

Some have asked how this was discovered. Will had been to the doctor for a lump that appeared on his chest. They thought it was just some fatty tissue, but come to back in two weeks. When he went back (on the 11th), it had shrunk a little, but the doctor had blood drawn. With an upper limit of 10,000, Will’s WBC was 205 thousand. His RBC was low. An appointment was made with the oncologist for Thursday, the 18th. Dr. Mirtsching, the oncologist thinks the lump is just a collection of white blood cells.

I want to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes. So many of you have put Will on the prayer list at your respective churches. Please know that these prayers have been needed and appreciated. Please keep it up. Although today was good, we are not out of the woods yet. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

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